The Flame of Olympus
by Auburn Waves
Summary: They say fire is the foundation of all society, but Jake has a problem. Well...at least Olympus does. A goddess is missing and Olympus is crumbling at the edges. Five days is all that's left for him and two friends to save all of western civilisation.
1. I get a face full of birdpoo

**So I think this is my eighth story on Fanfic. Unbelievable! I hope you enjoy it. I wanted to do a Percy Jackson one for ages so Read and Review if you want me to keep writing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.**

**I get a face full of bird poo**

Never had I seen such a desolate landscape. The streets were black as night and the buildings darkened into faded shades of grey. I could discern only the faintest sense of life and the first signs of decay could be seen in the amount of dust covering the paved walkways.

There wasn't a fire or soul in sight.

"Welcome to Olympus," said Lisa.

She looked up at me with solemn and saddened eyes.

"What happened?" I asked.

**-O-**

Let me take you back to the beginning.

My name is Jake Dallaway and I lived a pretty normal life until one day.

I was in my English room, one of those reasonably old ones with no double glazing where the winters are freezing and the summers are way to hot. I was meant to be listening to Ms Clarkson tell me about the context of Animal Farm, but I couldn't for the life of me concentrate on all the Russian revolution stuff.

"_We are all equal, but some are more equal than others,"_ said my teacher. "What does this tell us about the progression of the pigs power in the book and about Orwell's view on communism?"

Someone else answered, I gave up trying to read the other quotes off the board; they looked like gobbledygook to me. Instead I turned to Matt whose normal bored expression told me he was having as much trouble with this class as me, but for different reasons.

"You know I told you about that weird tramp guy?" I said.

"Yeah," he replied.

Now I think I'm a reasonably interesting guy, but there I was halfway through my story when I noticed that he was lying on the table in a pool of his own drool. My face contorted involuntarily and I shook him awake.

"Wha...?" mumbled Matt. "Oh," he looked embarrassed as if he just realised he'd been asleep. "What were you saying?" he asked hopefully.

"Nothing," I muttered. "It doesn't matter."

This had been happening more and more recently. You could imagine how my Mum looked when my Maths teacher fell flat on the table at parents evening. I won't repeat everything she said about him afterwards, but you get the gist. I managed to persuade her not to file an official complaint, but I wouldn't want to be Mr Flint when she next sees him.

"Hey, erm what are you doing later?" asked Matt clearly trying to make up for earlier.

Just then something hard struck my shoulder. I looked up then down. A grey stone lay on the table in front of me. I frowned and looked out the window trying to see who could've thrown it. In my peripheral vision I saw another friend of mine: Merseus looking a little uncomfortable. He had the look he always had when he'd eaten too many Nachos. Not a pretty site believe me.

I shrugged seeing no one and turned back for another attempt at the quotes.

A loud screech broke the air and I looked up again towards the window. This time I was not ready for what I saw. At first I thought I was hallucinating, but then Merseus screamed to me.

"Get down!"

The sheer fear in his voice must have convinced the rest of the class because everyone clambered under their desks as fast as they could. I was probably one of the last. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. These ugly red birds with wicked beaks were diving in through the windows in an arrow formation. They seemed to want to kill us. I don't know why, but I thought I saw this evil glint in their eyes. It unsettled me.

"What the hell are those things?" I shouted to Matt so that he could hear me in the racket the birds were making as they swarmed round the classroom screeching and cawing.

"I don't know," replied Matt, but he didn't seem to look as worried as me. "Demented seagulls?" he suggested.

"Some seagulls," I muttered.

Suddenly Merseus was beside me, his blonde tufty hair made him look like he'd accidently stuck his finger in a live socket. I wouldn't put it past him.

"Here," he said shoving what looked like a sword towards me.

It was bronze and glowed faintly in the reflected sunlight. The hilt fit snugly into my hand, but the sword felt heavy.

"How the..." I started, but thought better of it. However he'd managed to sneak a massive blade into school was none of my business. "What am I meant to do with this?" I asked.

He gave me a _I believe in you look _that people only do in movies.

"Whoa," I said disbelieving. "I am not going out there."

I looked across the classroom. One kid was lying on the floor covered in dollops of bird poo, he clearly hadn't got under cover fast enough. That was one casualty already on the list.

"Now," insisted Merseus and before I knew it he had pushed me out into the open and I had no choice but to fight.

It took me a moment to get my bearings when one bird zeroed in on me and broke out of formation to dive. I didn't know what to do, then suddenly something innate seemed to kick in. My arms seemed to know what to do.

I stared the bird straight in the face and when it came within reach I sliced out with my sword and cut it in two. It dissolved into red powder before my eyes. I was so stunned I didn't realise that more were coming towards me.

I brought my sword round just in time to cut the second. Another flew in to snap at my shoulder, but I sliced of its wing and it spiralled to the floor. More came at me, from the right, from the left. Everywhere I turned birds descended on me. It was all I could do to hack away at them one at a time. I was surrounded.

One bird flew over head and pooped right on my head. It was trying to blind me. I had little time to recoil in disgust. I saw an opening in the birds to my right. I took it, I didn't know if I would get another chance like that. I ran for the door like a lunatic.

I don't know when Merseus joined me, but he was running beside me at breakneck speed carrying both our bags. We reached the door. I flung it open and we ran out into the corridor with the birds in hot pursuit. They were gaining on us and I didn't know what to do.

Blindly I slashed my sword into the air above and behind every now and then catching one of the creatures. I ran forwards towards the outside doors and as I reached for the handle one of the birds saw an open point in my defence and it dived for my face.

**Read and review!**


	2. I ride a nightmare

**In response to a review from Cotix 14 I just want to clear up that it's a guy. Sorry for the confusion.**

**Right then, next chapter, I hope you like this one :)**

**I ride a nightmare**

I didn't know what to do, my arms were occupied and my reflexes just weren't fast enough. That's when Merseus threw the bin. It sailed through the air like a red missile scattering rubbish everywhere. The great bulk of it smashed straight into the bird and sent it flying into the opposite wall where it disintegrated into red powder.

We pushed through the doors and slammed them as fast as possible. A few of the birds squeezed through, but most got shut inside the school.

"Is that wise?" I asked my friend.

I was still jutting my sword in every direction trying to kill the remaining birds, but they seemed to get out of reach, bombarding me with their poo. All the work was making my brow wet with concentration. I slashed one that got to close to Merseus nearly taking his head off too.

"Easy," said Merseus.

I mumbled an apology, but I had distracted my friend too long and he let go of the door and the birds were able to push through. A hole hoard whooshed out the door at once and circled in the air to attack. They reformed into their arrow formation and descended like bees on honey.

A loud whinny echoed in the playground and a large skeletal horse, blazing bright in the sun burst into the playground. Its mane was a blur of fiery heat in the afternoon and its body grey and thin as though it had been starved. Bones jutted out to form its ribcage, I shuddered.

This beast looked terrifying and I wasn't willing to bet he was here for the nutritional grass on the playing field.

Then the creature did something I had expected, it charged towards us its eyes aglow with violent red that seemed to suggest all that came in its path would be destroyed. A trail of wavering flames flickered in its wake.

"That could be a problem," I shouted to Merseus.

The birds were getting closer now, but I could see the reserve in their eyes like they weren't sure they wanted to attack any more. The horse careened towards us, the birds decided in a split second that they didn't want to attack. With a remorseful glance they scattered. That just left us alone to face the horse.

Its nostrils flared.

I flinched as the flames grew higher into the sky. How had someone not noticed?

I brought my sword up to fight in a stance that, I hoped, looked heroic. Then the horse did the strangest thing. It stopped.

Right in front of us. It just stopped.

I breathed, I could feel the intense heat radiating from the creature. The sweat was forming on my arms and face as I struggled to keep myself together in the glorious haze. I turned away feeling the creature was too bright to look at.

"That's a...that's a nightmare," said Merseus as disbelievingly as me, but still, I got the feeling he was hiding something from me and I wanted to know more about his debilitating leg disease. I was suspicious after seeing him run like that.

"What's a nightmare," I asked.

Was it me or was the atmosphere cooling. I could breathe easily again, that was a plus. I even turned back to look at the horse, its appearance had mellowed to that of a normal horse, albeit skinny with red eyes, but it was definitely less scary than before.

I felt inclined to move towards it, but stopped myself.

That thing may kook deceptively calm, but I couldn't help feeling that the moment I touched it my hand would shrivel and burn like a burger left too long on the barbeque. I kept my distance, but the horse had other ideas.

It stepped towards me in a confident way. Despite its still glowing red eyes I felt much less intimidated than I had only moments ago. Perhaps the creature wasn't bad. Again I wanted to step towards it.

This time the urge was too strong. Those eyes seemed to be trying to tell me something.

Gingerly I reached out my hand.

"Erm...Jake," said my friend nervously, there was a strange bleaty sound in his voice. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"I'm fine," I reassured.

I reached towards the creature, my fear took me over for a moment as the vivid image of my charred hand plagued my mind, but I suppressed it and my hand came to rest on the horses neck. Nothing happened. I was so relieved I breathed out a long breath. Had I been holding my breath? I didn't realise until I let it out.

I could feel the coarse grey hair under my skin. Each point was sharp and pricked my skin, but it wasn't so painful as to be unbearable. Just a mild pain.

"Easy," I said to the horse. "Easy girl."

The nightmare whinnied as I patted her.

I turned to Merseus who wore an expression of utter disbelief on his face. His bushy eyebrows were so high they had almost reached his hairline. I nearly laughed at his expression.

"See she's fine," I grinned at him.

"Yeah, but...I mean...she's a..." the boy broke off into incoherent babbling as I had often witnessed before.

It was like he was trying to come to terms with something. Everything something strange happens to me –and believe me there are many – he becomes a vegetable trying to reconcile himself. I mean take that time the cafeteria ladies wet themselves when they were serving me... I won't ever forget that particular incident.

By the time I was done with my musings Merseus had regained himself.

"We need to get you to camp," he said determinedly.

"To camp?" I asked incredulously.

This wasn't one of his scout meetings that he went on about was it? I didn't know why they needed me, but you never know.

"Just follow me," said Merseus.

He grabbed my hand and tried to drag me off in the direction of the school gates, but I stood my ground.

"What about our friend?" I nodded towards the nightmare.

"No time for that now," he replied. Was there fear in his voice?

Then the horse did something neither of us expected: it knelt down onto its knees.

"I think she wants us to ride her," I said with a broad grin on my face.

The sight of Merseus would have been enough to make even the hard-faced Mrs Stonewall laugh. He looked as though a fly had surprised the bridge of his nose and sent him cross eyed. For this reason I wasn't certain if he could still see me, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Sure, whatever," he shrugged.

I climbed on first followed by Merseus who was still hesitant, but once he was on he was fine. I found it a little strange to mounting this horse as if it were a camel, but the nightmare didn't mind.

"I'm going to call you Blazer," I patted the horses neck.

She whinnied and we were off.

**So come on people, what do you think?**


	3. The sign of the sleepyhead

**Thanks for the review Cotix 14. Time for camp I think, read and review guys :)**

**The sign of the sleepy-head**

I can't describe the sensation of riding the nightmare, but this is what I can say. The world around us seemed to blur in a blaze of fire and heat where all the people and places we passed just seemed like smoke in the wind.

I got the feeling that we were going very fast, but I couldn't tell as I couldn't see anything clearly. It was about three hours later that we seemed to reach our destination. The great beast was slowing down and a trail of fire sailed behind us becoming clearer and clearer as the smoky figures became reality.

We were on a hill.

"What's this place?" I asked turning to Merseus who had a look of relief on his face.

"Camp," he said and I couldn't tell whether he was more pleased to be allowed to get off the nightmare or that he was at this mysterious camp.

"Great scout meeting," I muttered.

I mean who joins a group that resides well over three hours away from their home?

Merseus half jumped and half fell to the floor in relief. He stumbled a little, but his legs seemed very agile. Especially for someone in his condition.

"I'll explain things later," said Merseus. "But first of all I haven't been entirely frank with you."

"No?" I feigned surprise.

I had begun to suspect there was something a little odd about my friend ever since he passed me that massive sword. I climbed down to the floor with it hanging loosely from my belt.

The ground was soft and the grass green, but all the same I felt a staggering in my legs as if gravity had only just caught up with me. We were near a pine tree. It stood a few metres to our right with a funny looking animal sniffing around the base of the tree. I don't know why, but I couldn't quite look at it properly.

"This is what I wanted to show you," Merseus interrupted my thoughts.

That was when he started stripping. He seemed to be attempting to remove his trousers with both grace and speed.

"Look," I said cringeing. "Whatever it is it's cool okay. There's no need to show me."

I was about to put my hand up to cover my eye when goat legs stepped out of the jeans. I stared in disbelief.

"Where did your legs go?" I asked not believing what I was seeing.

I circled the furry stumps looking for an answer, but nothing came to me.

"They're right here," he pointed to the goat legs.

"Okay," I said trying to play it cool.

Why did the sight of my hairy-legged friend discomfort me more than those evil birds?

"Look Jake, you're a demigod," said Merseus.

"I what?" I asked.

"You're a demigod he repeated impatiently.

"What's that?" I asked amused. "Some kind of half-god?"

My tone was mocking.

Merseus looked at me and I realised he wasn't lying.

"You've just been attacked by Stymphalian birds and I nightmare turns up as a means of transport," he said, but I needed little more convincing.

A voice shouted to us from down in the valley. It was a girl with wavy bronze hair that seemed to reflect the sun. It almost glowed in the afternoon sun. Her skin was lightly tanned as if she'd spent most of the summer outside. She was thin and wiry as she made her way up to us and a bright orange T-shirt read CAMP HALF-BLOOD.

I tried to put all the God stuff out of my head when I realised I hadn't eaten for a while and wondered if they had food here. The girl approached us at a leisurely running pace and was soon standing in front of us. Tactfully the first thing I said was:

"Hey, where's the food?"

She laughed at that which I was pretty glad about. I didn't want to get off to a bad start when I'd only just arrived.

"I'll show you in a minute," she said. "I'm Lisa by the way."

"Cool," I said and shook her outstretched hand.

Merseus muttered something about capital Ds or something and Lisa changed the conversation.

"I think we need to take you to see Mr D," she said.

"Who?" I asked.

It sounded like someone out of _Words and pictures_. I nearly laughed, but the look in Merseus' eyes made me think twice.

"Let's go," he said simply.

With that the three of us set off down the hill to a big old house. I waved good-bye to Blazer, but she was already gone.

_Strawberries for sale_ read a faded sign on the side of the house, but on the porch I could see two figures. One was a brown-haired man in a wheelchair with a pack of cards in his hands and the other was a fat, oversized image of a bouncy hopper that suggested to me this guy had drunk a little too much in his time.

I looked back and forth between them trying to decide which of these fine specimens of humanity was the illustrious Mr D who could strike fear into the heart of Merseus.

I walked next to Merseus, he was looking shifty and on edge at the idea of going to talk to these two figures. Lisa however confidently led the way down towards the wooden porch.

It was a nice brown colour in the sun, but it looked old and I had to admit I was a little afraid that the structure might collapse, but it seemed to be holding out okay.

"Who's this?" asked the fat guy as we approached.

"This is Jake Dallaway," said Merseus. I now understood why there was a bleating sound in his voice.

"Of any importance?" asked the man as if I wasn't there. I was beginning to get the feeling that this potato was Mr D. "Never mind," he said before anyone could answer. "Now Jackie Dalton. Welcome to camp Half-blood, blah-di-blah-di-blah and so on and so forth. You're a demigod. Enjoy your stay."

The last part of his speech seemed to pain him as though he was going against his own personal morals. It was a brief monologue and when it was over Lisa seemed to think it was best we got out of there.

Merseus showed no less enthusiasm for vacating the porch.

"We'll talk more later young Jake," the wheelchair man called after me.

Although he wasn't in his wheelchair anymore. He had the body of a horse and such power and beauty that would shame a jumbo jet. I felt a little light-headed. This all seemed like a dream.

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

Lisa turned to me.

"To the..."

She stopped short.

"What?" I asked looking over my shoulder immediately. I didn't want some monster to jump out of nowhere and start attacking me again. But there was nothing. "What?" I asked again, but more persistently.

We were now standing in the middle of an increasing crowd of spectators. A chattering had started up amongst them and they were all looking at a point just above my head.

"The closed eye," murmured Lisa.

I looked up, and sure enough, rippling with purple and navy veins was the picture of a closed eye.

**Three guesses who the godly parent is, for both of the demigods ;)**


	4. Dreams of dreams

**So next chapter, did you guess who the godly parents were? Well let me tell you...**

**Dreams of...dreams?**

"Wha...?" I asked staring at the shape above my head that had already started to fade.

The bright purple lines were dissipating into the air, not like smoke, but as if they were weaving themselves into the atmosphere.

"That means your the son of Morpheus, God of dreams," said Lisa quietly so that few people could hear, but most of them seemed to have figured it out for themselves.

"I'm what?" I asked astounded. "You must be mistaken, my dad's name is John, John Dallaway."

Was it just me or did the conversations around me get louder.

"Not here," said Lisa with a look of sympathy on her face. "Follow me."

Merseus trotted along beside us as we made our way towards a complex of buildings that looked as thought they been painstakingly shipped over from ancient Greece. They were very different in appearance, but they were centered around a semi-circle. I looked carefully at them, some were large and majestic, others were humble and pretty, one even seemed to shine in the daylight. We passed most of the impressive ones, including a black one that chilled me when I looked at it.

It didn't take long to reach the one we were headed for, even if it was nearly the last one. Great marble columns held up the low roof and within them swirled purple and navy veins. The door was like an ever changing patchwork that made my eyes feel funny if I tried to concentrate on it.

"This is your cabin," said Lisa explaining.

"Why?" I asked. What was it that decided your cabin here?

""It's Morpheus' cabin," Merseus piped in.

"Look," I said. "I don't know why there's been some kind of mix up, but I told you my dad is John Dallaway."

Lisa and Merseus looked at each other. I didn't know what passed between them, but it made me a little angry to be left out.

"What?" I asked angrily.

There were no other campers around, I couldn't see any of the tell-tale orange t-shirts. The steps of Morpheus cabin also had the coloured veins running through them.

Merseus indicated that we should all sit down, but I didn't want to sit down. I was getting annoyed at my friend and this girl. John was my dad.

"Jake," said the satyr? Was that what they called these creatures. It sounded right. "I told you you're a demigod. How else do you think you're half-god?"

I looked at him trying desperately to come up with an explanation, but my mind was blank. Every time a thought wafted into my head it hit a road-block. I didn't want to believe it; I loved John, I loved my mum. Why would they lie to me?

"All the campers here have a Godly parent," said Lisa as if it would make me feel better. "Mine's Apollo."

I said nothing, I didn't really care about everyone else at the moment. I was too embroiled in my thoughts. What difference was it to me if she was a child of Apollo?

"You okay?" asked Lisa. She looked concerned.

"Yeah, can I have a minute?"

I turned away from my friends and looked again at the doors. With a deep breath I pushed them open and walked through. Neither of them followed me which I was rather grateful about. I needed some alone time.

The door shut automatically behind me, dull purple light drifted in through the thin curtains by the windows. I moved towards them and threw them open. Sunlight streamed in. It illuminated the pattern on the floor. It was like the door. Colours were swirling around indistinctly, vaguely forming shapes then moving on again.

I felt dizzy, like the floor was unstable. Quickly I made my way over to the nearest bed. The colours threatened to tip me over.

I plonked down and put my rucksack down beside me. I was so tired, I didn't want to think about anything, but my dad's face kept coming into my mind. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't. He wasn't my dad was he? My dad was a Greek God. His name was Morpheus.

I didn't care though, did I? I still missed my mum and dad. That word stung me, but I wanted to see them again. How long would that be?

Sleep came faster than I had expected. I don't know at what point my parents drifted from my conscious mind, but the next thing I knew I found myself sitting on a park bench in the middle of some kind of park. The scenery around me swirled slightly as if it was being created as I sat there.

"Hello," said a voice behind me.

A figure emerged from a set of trees that looked like gateways. He had whitish hair, but his features were young and he walked with a stealth in his manner. Behind him a long dark cloak stretched behind him into infinity. It looked like the floor of my cabin.

I knew this was Morpheus, somehow I knew it was him.

I didn't know what to say in response to his greeting. I didn't smile at him though. Taking no offense he sat down next to me, I noticed the sand coloured bag on his belt.

"Sleep dust," he said as if reading my mind, his voice was soft and melodious. "In some stories they call me the sandman."

I nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Ah Jake," he sighed wistfully as if remembering something from along time ago. "Sometimes we have to find things out for ourselves."

That made me angry, but I didn't show it. Slowly I clenched my fist to vent my anger that way. What good would it do me to attack a God?

"Why are you here?" I asked.

Morpheus looked at me a moment, he seemed to be wearing a permanently dreamy expression on his face. How fitting. The he sighed.

"There's a time coming soon when the world will need you," he told me so soothingly. "I wanted to warn you." He got up to leave, then turned back as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh, and Jake."

"Yeah?"

"Avoid the stars," he said.

"What?" I asked, but the scene before me was dissolving and I found myself staring up at the ceiling of my cabin.

The moonlight trickled in lighting everything with a pale glow and the stars twinkled in the sky. I shook my head. Why did Morpheus have to be so cryptic. What did he mean? In the end I gave up trying to figure it out and fell back to sleep.

**Give yourself a pat on the back if you figured it out :)**


	5. Did I ask for death?

**Now it gets exciting. Sorry there's no capture the flag. And a hearty congratulations to Cotix 14. Well done on the guessing :)**

**Oh by the way the story is before the Heroes of Olympus series.**

**Did I ask for death?**

When I stepped out of my cabin the next day I thought I had dreamt the whole thing up, but then I was met by the sight of sleepy looking children walking down towards the dining pavilion. I guessed I should probably get some breakfast. I was exhausted by my sleep for some reason. Personally I blamed Morpheus, but I shrugged it off.

Soon I walked into the dining place and Lisa came over to me.

"Where's Merseus?" I asked.

"The satyrs don't tend to eat with us," she told me. "They prefer to empty the recycling of tin cans. So many nutrients in those apparently."

"Oh," I said not sure what else to say. "Shall we get a table?"

"You already have a table," she said.

"I do?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll show you," she kindly offered.

Lisa led me over to a wooden table like every other in the place, but it was empty. Nobody else was sitting there. That didn't bother me, if it was just me and Lisa that was cool. I'll admit I was a little surprised when she didn't sit down.

"I don't sit with you," she said apologetically. "It's like the cabins. We sit on a table depending on who our Godly parent is. There's no other person in the Morpheus cabin."

"Oh," I could tell she was feeling bad. "It doesn't matter."

"Sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, but she smiled and waddled off to a table a little way off.

It was surrounded by a group of slim looking tanned children of various sizes. One had a bow strapped to his shoulder and another was holding a quiver and inspecting one of the arrows for faults. I noticed that the two of them looked quite similar. Were they twins? They looked like the oldest of the group.

"A quick announcement," said the bearded centaur standing up. What was his name again? "There will be a game of capture the flag at 3 o'clock this afternoon."

Capture the flag, I mused. It seemed a little childish. Still I'm sure it would be fun. Looking over at one table I saw a girl with a cruel expression sharpening a wicked spear. I gulped, I did not want to go through that by accident.

I was pretty glad to get out of their when I'd finished my breakfast.

I saw Merseus waiting outside after breakfast and I went over to speak to him. He was looking a lot more comfortable than I had seen him for a long time. Of course he still had those weird goat legs, but I was beginning to get used to it.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I replied. "What am I meant to do at this _camp_ then?" I asked.

It still felt weird calling it a camp, it was like I had chosen to come here for the holidays when in actual fact I hadn't had a choice. The last twenty four hours still seemed like a dream to me. I was having trouble refraining from screaming at the nearest camper:_ pinch me!_ I wonder how they'd take it.

"Actually," said Merseus. "The Apollo cabin kindly volunteered to teach you archery."

"Cool," I said.

At least there were some people here being nice to me. Somehow I figured Lisa must've had something to do with it

We walked off towards the archery practice area and Merseus turned to me with a serious expression on his face, but it was also one of pity.

"Look," he said. "Try to be inconspicuous, Morpheus isn't exactly a favourite here."

I was about to ask what he meant, but we had come within earshot of the Apollo cabin and I decided it would be best to hold my tongue.

Lisa ran up to me.

"Hey," she said. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

The twins I had noticed earlier were called Tabby and Tom. I nearly laughed at the idea of them being little kittens rolling around by the fire, but I stopped myself. No need to get beaten up on the first day.

Tabby was the leader of the cabin at fifteen years of age. She smiled at me and handed me a bow. It felt so amazing to be holding one.

"Just look down the shaft of your arrow and aim a little higher than the target," she advised me. "And stand side on to get the most power."

The whole cabin hoisted their bows with me. It looked like such a fluid motion. I wish I'd been watching from the sidelines, I bet it would have looked like we were professionals.

Archery is a really cool sport. I'd always wanted to try it, but little did I know that I was up against some of the world's greatest. It is a little embarrassing when every arrow hits the bulls-eye and yours...well, let's just say that the dryads will not settle so close to the archery field next time I'm around.

I blushed deep red at my failure.

"Don't worry," smiled Tabby, she bore quite a bit of resemblance to Lisa now that I looked carefully. "It's just about practice."

"And who your dad is," I thought I heard someone murmur, but I could have been imagining it.

I continued to practice with the cabin for half an hour, my aim was getting better. Rarely did I miss by over twenty metres. That's when a pretty red-headed girl wandered towards us. She looked about three or four years older than me. Probably about sixteen. Her green eyes were smiling with her face.

Tabby greeted her with a curt nod and Tom smiled at her. Was there something I was missing here? Still the Apollo cabin didn't let her get in the way of training.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Lisa as we notched another arrow in our bows.

"Who Rachel?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"She's the oracle," Lisa told me. "You know, the speaker of the prophecies of Apollo. She likes to talk to us because we have a link to Apollo."

"Cool," I said losing another arrow into the bushes.

Suddenly the red-headed girl stooped as if in pain. Tom rushed over to make sure she was okay. A creepy green mist started to rise from her mouth and I was pretty certain it wasn't just bad breath. The girl started to speak in a strange voice.

"_A heart of fire, a cage of ice,  
>Two young souls returned to life.<br>In the west a foe shall wait,  
>A goddess taken as a bait<br>Olympus dark, its shores ablaze,  
>The son of dreams' last days."<em>

**Okay tell me you don't like prophecies and I know you're lying.**


	6. The Gods demand an audience

**All will be explained, but not yet...**

**Sorry to keep you all in suspense :D Read and review.**

**The Gods demand an audience**

"What was that?" I asked a little stunned. "Did you just say I would die?"

"I didn't say it," said the red-head calmly.

Well that was an outright lie. She straightened up and smiled politely at me. Her voice had returned to normal, but that was little comfort.

"What was the green smoke about?" I was a bit freaked out at what Rachel had just said.

The question seemed to be on everyone else's lips as well. They all looked almost as puzzled as me. That was just ridiculous, they must have seen this before.

"Oh the smoke," said Rachel breezily. "That sometimes happens when..." she paused as if trying to make up her mind whether or not to tell me. "That sometimes happens when a prophecy was meant to be said by the last oracle."

"What?" I asked.

I was very confused, but if I knew one thing it was that I did not want to die. I don't know what the rest meant, but it sounded like a load of creepy voodoo. I was just about to ask her to repeat it when the giant centaur came galloping into sight.

His soft brown fur shimmered a little in the sunlight, but as he came into focus I realised that there was a worried look on his face. When he noticed us all standing around Rachel his expression got even worse.

"This is not good," he said without addressing anyone in particular.

"What's happened?" asked Tabby stepping forward.

She like me must have seen his originally worried expression and so took on the role of the leader. Chiron looked at her before replying.

"The Gods have demanded that the three people on the quest go to Olympus now," he said calmly, but I could tell there was worry in his voice as he surveyed us. "I assume that a prophecy has already been spoken." Tabby nodded briefly. "Who are the ones to go?"

"Jake is," said Lisa loudly trying to pull me forwards.

I stood my ground.

_Thanks Lisa,_ I thought.

Somehow it didn't seem as though this trip would be much fun. Especially the way Chiron was giving me a pitying look.

"He's the son of Morpheus," she explained seemingly oblivious to my reluctance. "He was mentioned in the prophecy."

I noticed how she looked a little uncomfortable as she said that, she tactfully didn't mention the part where I died. Perhaps my death was already weighing on her conscience. Why did she have to single me out?

"What was the prophecy?" asked the centaur.

Tabby repeated it almost word perfect and Chiron looked thoughtful. I had seen a brief flash of pain in his eyes as she said the last line, but it was soon gone. He looked caught up in his thoughts. It seemed like ages before he finally spoke again.

"It's as I feared," he muttered then turned to me. "Jake, you must choose two companions for this quest and we must leave for Olympus immediately. It does not do to keep the Gods waiting."

The sky seemed to darken slightly or perhaps it was just my imagination.

"Come on now Jake," he urged.

"Erm..." I said stalling for time and probably looking pretty dumb as well. "I haven't really been here long enough to..."

A bronze reflection to my right brought my attention to Lisa. I looked at her enquiringly. She seemed like an alright companion on a trip like this. Whatever that meant. She nodded to me.

I nodded back still trying to decide on my next companion. Every head in the Apollo cabin seemed to have that shiny look to their hair. I didn't really know anyone else.

"I would pick a variety of talents," suggested Tabby as she saw me looking at the cabin members.

"Huh?" I said voicing my thoughts ever so eloquently.

"You should pick someone from another cabin," she advised.

"But I don't know any other cabins," I protested.

"Take Merseus," piped in Lisa. "I bet he'd want to go."

I wasn't so sure. Merseus didn't strike me as the adrenalin seeking type. Then again he was the only other person in the camp I really remotely knew, not that I knew very much about him. For half a year of our friendship I hadn't even known he was half goat. I was sure my sanity couldn't survive another revelation like that.

I decided to take Merseus in the end.

As soon as I'd told Chiron he beckoned Lisa and me forward and started cantering off towards the big house. He was a very large animal so I had to run a little to catch up. Lisa of course was doing fine. She had been doing the weird training courses they had here. I mean why would you need a lava wall? I hoped never to find out.

We ran past groups of campers who either looked surprised or curious. The big house loomed up faster than I had expected and two figures about sixteen stood on the porch. The boy had black hair and was speaking rapidly to a blonde headed girl. She was carrying a load of books under her arm.

"Percy, Annabeth," called out Chiron. "We need an immediate briefing," he looked up at the sky; clouds were closing in. "We don't have much time."

The two people hurried into the house and moments later we plunged in after them.

It took my eyes a moment to adjust from the glare of the sunlight, but when they did I could see a bare coffee table where all the objects on it had been swept to the floor and replaced with three rucksacks. They were all a delightful shade of exotic orange and they bulged as if someone had shoved everything they could into them.

Merseus burst into the house out of breath.

"Just heard," he apologised and slumped down into a chair.

I would've followed his lead, but I felt on edge still and I couldn't for the life of me sit down. I grimaced at the thought. I would have to stop using my life in metaphors, I didn't want the prophecy to come true.

"Annabeth," said Chiron allowing her to do the talking.

"Right," she said calmly. "The Gods have invited you to Olympus."

"Invited," scoffed the boy from somewhere on the other side of the room.

Annabeth shot him a look and he shrugged returning with arms laden with weapons. He handed me a sword. It felt better than the bows and arrows. Lisa, I noticed, kept her bow and arrow. I didn't blame her, not with her skill.

"I hope you won't need those," said the boy, but he didn't look too hopeful.

The blonde girl resumed talking.

"Do not be rude to the Gods if you want to stay alive, do not litter in Olympus," I nearly laughed at her there, but I held myself together. "Do not take anything from the eternal city and do not steal anything."

I wanted to say that was kind of the same thing, but I kept my mouth shut and nodded.

She grabbed a rucksack off the table and threw it to me. I caught it and nearly doubled over. The thing was really heavy. She threw one to Lisa and Merseus too.

"These are your supplies," she told us. "Don't lose them."

Thunder boomed overhead. I looked up, I had a feeling our briefing was over.

"Time to go," said Chiron decisively. "We've kept the Gods waiting long enough."

**Off to Olympus in the next chapter :)**


	7. I take an elevator to an imaginary floor

**Thanks for the reviews guys :)**

**Cotix 14: **There may well be some romance a little later on *wink,wink*

**AMAZING: **Try not to bite you nails too much (I don't want nailicide on my hands) :D

**Grffin212: **I have never been in a ninja fight myself, but I will – what! You think I have? Preposterous!

**I take an Elevator to an imaginary floor**

Creeped out? What me? No...

There's nothing weird about a guy with eyes all over his body. I did feel a little self-conscious as I sat in the minivan with Argus watching me from his neck.

It was me, Merseus and Lisa all sitting quietly in the back-seat in anticipation. Merseus was now looking human again, which was a relief, and Lisa had heard something about the situation on Olympus. There had been rumours at camp that Hestia, the goddess of the home and hearth was missing. The fires had not been working properly and nobody had seen the Goddess in the fire in the dining pavillion.

"Some people have said that Olympus is now in a dilapidated kind of state," Lisa whispered to me.

"Why are we whispering?" I asked in the same volume.

Lisa looked up at the roof of the car as if some evil overlord were lying sprawled on the underside ready to drop down and slice us to pieces.

"We must be careful what we say about the Gods," she said and she was still whispering.

"Right," I nodded.

These Gods seemed pretty moody to me, but I thought better of saying it out loud, there had been way too much thunder for my liking lately. It had boomed about once every two minutes so far and it was getting kind of annoying really. I couldn't have a proper conversation with either of my friends.

As if on cue the thunder rumbled overhead.

I waited for it to cease.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "You think Hestia has been kidnapped?"

"It would make sense: _A Goddess taken as a bait_," she quoted. "That would be Hestia I guess."

"Okay," I said. "But what about the rest of the prophecy?"

"It will all come true in the end," she said.

I winced at that. She seemed to notice.

"Don't worry about the prophecy," she said to me in her most reassuring voice, although I think I detected a waver. "They're always very ambiguous. It won't necessarily turn out the way you expect."

There was wisdom in what she said, but I still couldn't help feeling a little afraid of what was going to happen I tried to push it to the back of my mind. And what about my parents? Would I ever get to see them again. I started welling up. To hide it I stared out the window at the passing streets of New York.

I had got myself under control by the time the car pulled up outside the Empire state building. Argus bid us farewell and left us standing on the curb. I looked up, the gleaming sides of the building rose hundreds of feet in the air, but there was no mountain in sight.

I frowned.

"Er...Where's the mountain?" I asked.

Lisa laughed.

"It's not a mountain anymore," she said.

I looked at the Empire state building again.

"You mean..." I started, but my idea seemed ridiculous. Olympus could not be inside this building.

"Come on," she grabbed my arm and dragged me through the front doors.

Merseus followed with his weird looking human walk. It all made sense to me now, no wonder he walked strangely.

I tried to smile politely and look important as we walked into the hall. We were surrounded by people in suits and smart clothing. I couldn't help feeling a little out of place. Lisa and Merseus didn't even seem to notice the business people around them.

Instead they made bee-line for the desk.

A security guard sat reading a weird looking magazine where the title did not look English. I frowned and turned to ask Merseus what we were doing when Lisa started talking.

"600th floor," she said breezily,

I nearly laughed at her, but the security guard was peering intently over the desk at us as if reading into our minds.

"There's no such thing," he denied.

Just as I'd expected, but you know Lisa. Nothing if not persistent.

She spoke again, this time a little less assuredly. "Erm...we're expected."

The security guard leaned even closer and I couldn't help thinking about my dad – no, my stepdad? He always used to watch me carefully and then smile and tell me a story or something. A lump rose in my throat and I mentally kicked myself for being such a cry baby. This new life was proving me to be a very emotionally unstable teenager. Oh well...

"Take the right elevator," said the man finally and pressed a button to open the security gates.

Lisa handed him a drachma and stepped through into the elevator.

I decided I could only follow.

The elevator was the kind you'd find in any fancy establishment: clean, marble patterned and gold railed. I placed my hand on the cool metal as the lift started moving. _'Just another day in paradise'_ started playing calmly from the speakers. Why did I get the feeling that was not where we were going?

About three seconds into the journey I noticed a security camera in the corner of the elevator. It was a neat little thing, black and sleek. I grinned at it and waved.

"Jake," hissed Lisa pulling my arm down.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Don't be so rude!"

"Rude?" I asked in mock incredulity. "I was merely giving them a friendly wave."

"Don't."

I shrugged, it was Percy's idea. I decided not to dob him in, he seemed like a decent enough guy. He'd told me when Annabeth wasn't looking. Then he'd waltzed over to her as if he'd said nothing and winked at me.

The elevator soon came to a smooth stop and the doors opened.

I nearly fell out in astonishment. We weren't standing on anything that remotely resembled a floor. We were on a long bridge that stretched of towards a large city. It was dark and I couldn't make out much. I stepped onto the bridge and moved forwards. It was a really thin bridge, the edges were only centimetres away.

Merseus came up to join me.

"Looks bad," he said.

I nodded.

"Hey where's Lisa?"

I turned round to see her tentatively placing her foot onto the bridge. There was a look of sheer concentration on her face.

"I'm fine," she smiled falsely back at me.

She transferred her weight onto her front foot and brought the other round. Slowly. Very slowly. Was there a look of panic on her face? Why did she keep looking down?

"Are you afraid of heights?" I asked.

"A little," she shrugged sheepishly. "But it's nothing."

It clearly wasn't nothing. She was moving like a snail on an uphill ice slope, which is to say not at all.

"Come on," I said.

I walked back to the elevator and took her arm.

"I'm fine," she tried to shrug me off, but I held onto her.

We made it across the bridge without too much of a problem after that. At the beginning Lisa had tried to run back to the elevator, but I kept her going. Merseus led the way ahead. The city came into sight, but it was not a pretty view.

Never had I seen such a desolate landscape. The streets were black as night and the buildings darkened into faded shades of grey. I could discern only the faintest sense of life and the first signs of decay could be seen in the amount of dust covering the paved walkways.

There wasn't a fire or soul in sight.

"Welcome to Olympus," said Lisa.

She looked up at me with solemn and saddened eyes.

"What happened?" I asked.

**Hmm... does that little paragraph sound familiar? Right so now we've come full circle. Hope you enjoyed this, a little explanation in here too :)**


	8. Zeus gives us five days

**Okay peeps, here's the next instalment. Lisa's fear will be explained so read on...**

**Zeus gives us five days**

The King of the Gods certainly deserved the title. He was an imposing figure in the throne room. Even with the other Gods around him he exuded authority and leadership. Even in the dim light given out from the different thrones his face was clear. It was almost eerie the way the blue light from his master bolt shone on his face, like a storyteller on Halloween.

There were thirteen Gods and Goddeses in total and they all looked a little worried, anyone could see it, their faces, though shrouded partially in shadows showed their fears.

"You're late," said Zeus shrewdly.

His gaze was electric like lightning. Merseus was standing behind me, not quite cowering, but he looked like he wanted to be and even Lisa had taken a step backwards. She had clearly not fully recovered from walking across the bridge yet. That placed me at the forefront of the triangle.

I tried to shrug, but I had no idea of the conduct I was meant to portray. Luckily Zeus didn't seem to notice.

"Do you know why we've summoned you?" he asked. It was obviously a rhetorical question. "The wonderful Hestia, bringer of fire, guardian of the home and hearth is missing from our great Olympus. The fires all over the world will soon fail entirely. Here the streets are dark and crumbling. Nobody can survive without fire. The shores of Olympus are burning and crumbling away as we speak, every hour the cap of Olympus recedes even further. Soon there will be nothing of Olympus left," the God sounded wistful.

He looked around at his peers and sighed as if the disappearance was taking a heavy toll on them all. A tinge of pity set itself in my brain.

"We can only conclude that she has been captured as her powers are not working correctly," Zeus' tone became more forced. "I have begrudgingly accepted your help in this matter, because my brothers and others have counselled me so, but I was hoping for a better array of heroes."

"A better array!" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Lisa and Merseus both looked afraid suddenly.

So what? The pity was gone from my mind now. I didn't chose to have a prophecy dictated to me. I didn't ask to be attacked by those weird birds and I certainly didn't want to find out my dad was some sleep-endowing God.

"You are insolent Jake Dallaway," said Zeus outrage in his very loud voice. "But I will not kill you yet as I am in need of your..." he looked like he was trying to pick the right word. "Abilities."

What a bag of dung! How dare this guy ask us to Olympus to insult us and generally put us down. He wanted our help, he was going to have to grovel now as far as I was concerned. I was going to tell him this, but he started speaking again.

"I mean what has Chiron sent us? A child of Apollo is decent enough, but a _satyr_ and a child of _Morpheus_. Please. That traitorous man is probably trying to ingratiate himself again."

I wanted to punch Zeus in the face. There was anger building inside me and a violent inclination I had never felt before. That may have had something to do with Ares being in the room, but I had to press my lips together and breathe like a bull to stop myself charging the thunder God. I contained myself, with difficulty.

"You have five days," he told us. "If you do not find Hestia in that time I will personally see to it that you die a painful death."

I felt as though he was talking more to me than anyone else, but Lisa shivered beside me and I wanted to throw my arm around her and tell her Zeus was just a big bully. But he was a big bully with an arsenal of lightning so any comfort would only be a lie.

"Now get out of my sight," ordered the God.

That was it, I was going to attack this guy, but Lisa grabbed my arm, a little too forcefully to be friendly and steered me towards the door. We exited into the dark streets of Olympus. The stones were cracked a little in places.

"Don't let Ares get to you," warned Merseus with a slight bleat to his voice. "You're lucky we got out of there alive."

"Lucky?" I asked still annoyed.

I vented my anger with a sharp kick to a nearby pile of rubble. It scattered slightly. The dust sprayed half a metre into the air.

"Zeus could've fried you," he replied and I knew he was right, but the atmosphere in that throne room had made me so angry.

I felt the energy begin to leave me as we passed a scuttling nymph. She picked up a piece of brick and darted back into the shadows. I felt exhausted by the time we got to the bridge. I was annoyed at the Gods and I felt like destroying something.

Lisa stopped, the fear had returned to her eyes, but I was too annoyed to care.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked sharply as if she were a freak.

There was silence for a moment.

"I know I'm pathetic Jake," she said quietly as I realised how harsh I'd just sounded.

Merseus was looking at me disapprovingly. His eyebrows were raised at me.

"Oh," I said hastily. "I didn't mean it. I'm just annoyed at Zeus. I don't think you're pathetic. I think you're strong, I think you're amazing."

I scurried back across the bridge to Lisa and Merseus. This time I did put my arm around her. She shrugged me off. I let her. I had upset her. It wasn't her fault we were in this mess.

"I don't need your help," she mumbled, but she wouldn't meet my eye. "It's not my fault that children of Apollo tend to die in plane crashes. I mean ever since Phaeton..."

She trailed off. I had heard the story of Phaeton, the sun of Apollo who had convinced his father to let him drive the sun chariot, that had not ended well. Zeus had blasted him out of the sky and the boy had been burnt to a crisp.

"I'm sorry," I said pathetically. "We all have fears. Nobody's perfect."

"What's yours?" she asked me suddenly.

She looked up and I could see her face was red like she was trying not to cry. So far she was succeeding.

I took me a while to pluck up the courage to answer. I would never succeed on this quest if I kept being such a wimp. I looked around paranoid that someone was listening. The dark streets were creeping me out. I felt as though people were watching me. I took a breath.

"I'm afraid of fire," I said quietly.


	9. A Run in with the Graces

**Woo, another chapter ready. I have never written a fanfic so fast. **

**Cotix 14, I meant it was familiar from the first chapter. It's the same text :) Well enjoy this all.**

**A run in with the Graces**

I sounded pretty stupid. A son of Morpheus afraid of fire who was now on a quest to find the Goddess of the hearth. The irony was killing me. I'd never really bothered to tell anyone before, I liked to keep things to myself.

I could feel the colour rushing into my cheeks as Merseus and Lisa watched me in surprise.

Oh well, at least Lisa looked happier.

"See," I said a little sheepishly looking anywhere but her face. "We all have fears."

Lisa stood up straighter and brushed herself down. She took my arm and Merseus'.

"Lead on," she said.

Of course we had to walk in single file across the bridge so I took the lead holding Lisa's hand and Merseus walked behind. I could feel Lisa gripping me tightly, but we got to the end of the bridge and were soon back out on the streets of New York.

"We need to get going," said Merseus. "If what Zeus said is correct then he has set us five days, because that's only as long as Olympus can last. We need to find a train station."

My shaggy-legged friend set off down the street and we followed him. We weaved our way through traffic and crowds of people until we found ourselves outside the train station. It was a pretty good-looking building, but we didn't have much time to admire the architecture as we stepped inside almost immediately.

I let Merseus go and purchase the tickets, he was looking the most composed of the three of us.

Me and Lisa sat down on one of the benches and waited.

"I'm sorry," I said again, I really did feel rotten about what I'd said.

"It's nothing," shrugged Lisa and I knew I was forgiven.

She seemed in a much happier mood now, you'd never have guessed she'd been upset only half an hour or so beforehand. I smiled at her then scanned the train station.

A group of three really pretty girls entered the train station. They had beautiful shiny hair in various shades, not as reflective as Lisa's, but definitely stunning. All of them were wearing clothes that looked like they came from the most expensive shop in town and this was New York.

They smiled dazzlingly at every person they saw. Most people were staring agape at them. I even found myself mouth open. Was it just me or were they coming straight towards us?

"Close your mouth," snapped Lisa sharply.

I did, glad that I had been brought out of my trance. I didn't want to look like an idiot when they came over. Those kind of girls just didn't talk to me. They had an air of the Aphrodite cabin about them, but neither I nor Lisa recognised who they were.

The leader, a brunette with tanned skin and warm brown eyes came to sit down next to me on the bench. Her perfume wafted invitingly around us. I knew I was smiling, but I had no reason.

"Hello," she said silkily.

"Hi," I managed back, but even to my ears it sounded a little slurred.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lisa giving me an exasperated look. She didn't look as entranced as me.

"Who are you?" asked Lisa annoyed.

"My name is Aglaia" smiled the girl flicking her hair behind her ear.

"Oh great," I heard Lisa mumble. "The Graces."

Aglaia ignored this remark and turned back to me placing her head on her hand. She batted her eyes at me. They were very pretty.

"Our lady Aphrodite has high hopes for you," she told me. "So she sent us to give you something that we hope will help you."

Finally, the Gods were actually seeming to care for us, maybe a little. I mean it was about time they helped us after sending us on this stupid quest of theirs.

Aglaia fished in her Prada bag and pulled out a bottle of what I assumed to be perfume. It was purple and shaped like a crystal of sorts. I took it from the Grace's perfectly manicured hands.

"Er...thanks," I said.

It wasn't what I was expecting, but you never know when you may need to smell good on a quest like this.

Aglaia got up again and her sisters gathered around her.

"Sometimes persuasion works best," she said wisely then straightened up. "We must go now, but perhaps we will see you again when your quest is over. If you succeed there will be much need of our talents."

The group turned on their heels and strode off to the exit. I watched them with my mouth open, once again. They had said _when_ my quest was over. Did that mean I would succeed? No they'd said _if_ I succeeded. I sighed, I hoped so.

"What is it?" Lisa snatched the bottle from me bringing me right back to reality.

"Hey," I said. "That's mine."

Lisa didn't give it back. She just turned it over in her hands and peered at the bottom. I had no idea what she was looking for, but she seemed to find it.

"Here," she said pointing.

In tiny writing the words _Essence de l'amour_ could be seen although at first I thought it said _Eesncse ed l'ormua._

"It's a love potion?" I frowned, at least that's what it sounded like from French class.

"Great," mumbled Lisa. "That's not what I expected as help, but you never know."

I noticed that she pocketed the bottle. I was going to demand it back, but Merseus showed up waving the tickets at us. We climbed onto the train and found an empty compartment.

"We had a run in with the Graces," Lisa informed the satyr. "They gave us this love potion."

She took it out of her pocket and recounted the story in much better detail than I remember. It was all a little hazy to me, but Lisa explained that they tended to have that kind of effect on guys. I nodded, that seemed true enough. Just another way I was incompetent.

When Lisa had finished the ticket collector came round to check on everyone on the train.

"Here," Merseus handed out the tickets. "I got us them for as far as possible."

I took my ticket and studied it carefully. The destination struck me. Phoenix, Arizona it said. I caught my breath. That was where my parents lived.

**Interesting fact: Thalia is one of the Graces in greek mythology. So Thalia Grace? Do we see the link there?**

**Read and review guys!**


	10. The truth about packing cases

**Sorry this has taken so long to update, I have had exams so things may get a little slow for a while, but enjoy this...**

**The truth about packing cases**

My mind was swimming with possibilities. I could go to Phoenix, I could talk to my parents. Ask them why they lied to me, but I brought myself to reality. There was no point dwelling on that for the moment. It would be ages before we reached that part of America, let alone the town itself.

"Are you okay?" asked Lisa.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

I realised I had been standing there, immobile with my ticket in my hand for quite some time. Quickly I pocketed it and sat down. Lisa looked concerned, but Merseus had a resignation on his face.

Deciding I didn't really want to talk about anything at the moment, we knew the plan of action for the moment, I turned to look out the window as the train pulled out of the station. There was nothing we needed to clear up, we were essentially improvising on this, but I had a bad feeling. What with the prophecy and the deadline I wasn't feeling overly confident about this quest.

Outside the pillars and walls faded away and we began to move into New York and soon even the streets of that giant of towns had faded. The countryside outside looked dull and lifeless and and omnipresent cloud seemed to loom over all of northern America. It was a depressing sight and even my usually high spirits felt as damp as the landscape.

I don't know how much time had passed before I was jolted from my trance by a woman's voice. I looked up, the compartment door had opened and a women in an attendants uniform stood officiously in the doorway. She was older than your average worker with appearing wrinkles and fading brown hair. There was linger of beauty on her face, but it had faded away.

"There is a problem with your cases," she told us.

I looked at my friends immediately wide awake. We had no cases. Only our rucksacks which lay now by our feet on the floor. Merseus shifted uncomfortably, even sitting down his legs didn't look human under his trousers. How had I ever been fooled?

"You must come with me immediately," she said.

Not sure what to do I stared blankly at her and Merseus made a goat-like noise. Some of the people in our carriage looked at the woman a little surprised. I wondered why, but I didn't have much time to ponder.

"Come," she repeated and for some reason I found myself compelled to stand.

Like little sheep the three of us plodded out of our carriage and down the train. We passed many others until a great metal door drew up in front of up. It had letters across it which sort of looked like _Baggage Area_ if I concentrated really hard.

The woman produced a key card and swiped it into the keypad to the right of the door. She tapped in a code which I wasn't able to catch and the door slid back to reveal, as I had suspected, the baggage area.

We walked in after her down the aisle. She stooped about halfway down and pointed to a large trunk that looked as though it could contain a person or two.

"Please open it," she ordered Lisa.

My friend, completely bewildered at both her compliance with the order and the fact that we were even in this situation in the first place.

I wondered whether it was another of these weird gifts from the Gods. That would make two in a day. I didn't have to wait long to find out.

The case was not locked, but Lisa was having trouble with one of the belts.

"You," the attendant pointed to Merseus. "Please help her."

Seemingly unable to refuse the woman's polite manner's, he too knelt down with a bewildered expression on his face. His shoe wobbled a little and stuck out at a weird angle no human foot could manage, but the woman paid no attention to it. Perhaps she hadn't noticed.

Together the two of them managed to unbuckle it and pulled the lid open. Now I'm not one to expect a lot from life, but I had expected more than an empty case.

"Wha..." I began to say, but the attendant moved like lightning.

Before I even realised what was happening she had pushed my two companions head first into the travelling case and closed it. The belts holding it closed seemed to buckle automatically and now she was coming for me.

I looked around panicked. I moved my hand to my hip for a sword, but quickly remembered it was lying, safely wrapped up in my bag, back in the other carriage. I cursed under my breath in Greek, spouting words I didn't even know I knew.

The attendant's arm cam out of nowhere and smacked into my torso. I tried to stay upright, but there was something pushing into my knees and I fell to the floor. I groaned in pain at the hard metal floor, but recovered my senses soon enough.

The attendant now had a tube of cardboard in her hand and was wielding it like a spear. She jabbed me in the stomach and I squealed, but I was ready for her next attack. I rolled to the right to escape the mean cardboard. This brought me closer to the case my friends were in and I started to undo the first buckle. I didn't get very far as I had to roll away again to avoid another hit.

The tube came round again, but this time I parried it with a heavy carpet back from the rack. I nearly dropped it on my face, the weight of it, but the tube swung back and I scrambled to my feet. I grabbed a slightly lighter bag and got ready to fight again.

"Get in the case!" screamed the woman charging me.

The tube was now a jousting pole. Who've thought roll of cardboard would make such a formidable weapon? And so versatile? The military were investing in the wrong place.

I sidestepped her attack and whacked the pole with my bag. Designer, one should always look good in battle.

The woman was crazy, that much was obvious. There was an insane glint in her eyes. I mean for goodness sake: what kind of a lunatic attempts to lock you in a suitcase. It made no sense.

I ran over to Lisa and Merseus' case and sprung open the first belt. I had started on the second when an immense screech from the other end of the room shattered my eardrums. The woman was attacking again.

For no reason I wondered what the people in the next carriage thought was going on. That's ADHD for you, but I brought myself back to the battle just in time to whack my bag straight up at the pole.

The force and unexpectedness of the attack sent the pole careening into the air, ripping itself straight out of the woman's hands. It smashed into the ceiling and clattered to the floor by our feet.

The door at the opposite end of the carriage to the way we came in opened and a man walked in. He looked strong and he looked annoyed. I didn't think I could win a fight against both of them.

**Any guesses who these people are. I'll be very surprised if you get this.**


	11. Unfortunate sideeffects of boxopening

**Firstly thanks to Cotix 14, AMAZING and ThePrettyPotato for reviewing and to the latter and gorgoth for adding this to favourites. You are the reason I keep writing, have a biscuit.**

**So from now on I'll try to update once a week. Have fun reading this though, I bet you were all dying to know who it was. Did any of you guess?**

**Read and review guys! (in best persuasive voice) I'll give you chocolate...**

**The unfortunate side-effects of opening boxes**

I braced myself for this new attacker. I was getting really afraid now, the woman showed no sign of reason and the man was advancing in a meaningful way. His shoulders were broad and he looked tall and strong. This was strangely contrasted to an almost dandy face, but he didn't look like he was a pacifist.

He carried on advancing from the door. I was trapped between them.

"Get in the box," hissed the woman again, but I noticed she had lowered her voice; she wasn't screeching like a harpy anymore.

"Pandora!" called out the man sharply. "What are you doing in here?"

Pandora, I discovered was the attendant's name. Surely it couldn't be _th_e Pandora, of Pandora's box. That was impossible! Then again what were the odds of it being a coincidence? Chiron had said before I had left that: _there is no such thing as coincidence, only fate. _Great, at the moment my fate was to be trapped in a packing case.

I mean what was _the_ Pandora doing on a train across the US attempting to put us all in boxes? Personally I don't like being put in boxes, in both senses of the phrase.

Pandora lowered her eyes and seemed to find the floor very interesting. She seemed to have forgotten I was there and began muttering about "evil " and other snippets of doom and gloom.

The man spoke up again as he walked past me as if I wasn't there.

"Are you alright darling?" he asked Pandora putting an arm around her. "Come back to the carriage."

He began to lead her past me. I had to push myself up against the bags to get out of the way. They walked along past the packing case my friends were in.

Tactfully Merseus chose that moment to bleat out and bang on the lid of it.

The couple stopped and Pandora stared intensely at the lid daring it to open. She looked like she would force it to do press-ups and eat chillis for the rest of the year if it even tried.

"You boy," said the man looking at me. "Get your friends then follow me."

I nodded not trusting myself to say anything in case I offended the man. Quickly I shuffled over to the case dropping my carpet bag on the floor and kneeling down to open the last buckle. It proved easy enough and soon the lid sprang open.

Merseus and Lisa jumped up, their fists held out ready for a fight. After a second a confused expression spread across their faces like a rash.

"What?" asked the satyr.

I grabbed their arms and pulled them both out of the case. With much noise unfortunately. The man who had come my rescue turned his head and gave us all a silencing stare. After that we all shut up, more or less. I motioned for us to follow the retreating couple.

"Did I hear correctly inside the case that that is Pandora?" asked Lisa.

I nodded.

"Then that must be her husband, Epimetheus," said Merseus contributing. So that's who our rescuer was. "They haven't been seen for years," he went on. "The last time they turned up it must have been...let me think, the wall street crash?"

"What?" I asked, I wanted to know more, but we had passed through the other door and into a different sort of carriage.

It looked like the lounge and kitchen of a house. The walls were a sunny yellow and the sofas along each wall a faded red and white striped pattern. The kitchen unit was made out of the type of things you'd see in a caravan with units placed carefully and practically to economise space. There was a small table in between cupboards, nailed to the floor with four chairs around it. It all looked quite cosy really.

Pandora was being coaxed into sleeping by Epimetheus, they both sat on one of the sofas.

"Come on my darling," he said softly. "You are tired, you need your sleep."

She did look tired, her eyes were ringed and her shoulders were beginning to stoop. I looked at her, I wanted her to sleep. Despite her attack earlier I felt a kind of pity for her, there was something definitely not quite right about her.

I looked at her eyes again. She really did need to sleep. Almost as soon as I had had the thought, the woman lay back on the length of the sofa and fell asleep. Epimetheus looked over at us suspiciously as if she didn't normally sleep so easily, but the tension passed and he gestured for us to sit at the table.

As always my friends managed to sit further away than me so I was left sitting next to Epimetheus. He smiled wearily at us as he sat down. His eyes too showed the signs of sleepless nights.

"What's wrong with your wife?" asked Lisa.

I silently cringed at her direct approach, luckily Epimetheus did not take it badly.

"Ah, Pandora?" he said. "Such a wonderful woman. The best gift a man could ask for, but the Gods do not give gifts without giving consequences."

I noticed Lisa shift uncomfortably, she still had the love potion from the Graces. I too bristled at the man's words.

"She hasn't been the same," he continued. "Not since opening the box. She feels so guilty you know. She feels as though there is so much wrong with the world and it's all her fault."

I was going to say it was, but Merseus caught my eye. He seemed to guess what I was thinking and I kept quiet.

"It's been so tough," Epimetheus told us. "Pandora looks at people, humans are bad, but demi-gods and mythical creatures are the worst. She looks at you and all she sees are your faults. All the things she unleashed on the world. I don't blame her," he seemed angry now. "I blame those dogs."

He looked up towards the sky and I knew who he was talking about. There was a fury in his gaze, but still the thunder dared to rumble overhead.

"Rumble away!" he shouted. "You cannot do much more harm you conceited fool."

Lisa and Merseus looked petrified like the carriage was about to be sizzled to ash by lightning bolts. I considered it for a moment, it wasn't funny. What I'd seen of Zeus didn't make me think he was the kind, accepting type, but nothing happened. I breathed a loud sigh of relief.

"I curse those Gods," said Epimetheus. "My brother warned me, there is a price for happiness. Look at yourselves. My dear Pandora," he gazed fondly over his shoulder at her before turning back to us. "She saw in all of you bad things. Terrible things."

He nodded to Lisa.

"Greed," he proclaimed like a judge delivering her sentence; Lisa's eyes widened.

He nodded to Merseus.

"Bitterness," the same tone plagued his voice and the satyr looked away not meeting anyone's eye.

Then he nodded to me.

"Deceit," he finished, my crime apparent.

There was a melancholy look on his face. As he said that word I felt my breath catch in my throat and my heart start to beat faster. I felt mortified and I felt awful. He had laid our faults on a marble slab before our eyes for each of us to see.

**The drama is just unbearable don't you think? **


	12. I reveal a secret

**I have tried to put in more description for ThePrettyPotato and thanks to Xylia Ren and Cotix 14 as always. I should be revising, but I wanted to write this.**

**I reveal a secret**

Seeing the expressions on our faces Epimetheus quickly added:

"Of course she only saw the inklings in most of you, but it drives her mad. Anything bad must go back in a box. She's only trying to help you know."

I nodded looking over at the woman sleeping silently now, on the sofa. She didn't look anywhere near as deadly as she had just 15 minutes ago. I was finding it difficult to believe this woman had been wielding a cardboard tube like a maniac in the baggage carriage. She looked so peaceful now.

"Inklings?" asked Lisa. "Does that mean we have time to stop ourselves having those flaws?"

"It is always possible," agreed Epimetheus.

I noticed Merseus was not saying anything. He was still looking anywhere, but at us. He looked very uncomfortable, like someone had dropped boiling hot tea down the back of his trousers and he didn't want to say anything. Figuring he probably didn't want to talk at the moment I decided to leave it until later. I'd ask him in private.

"Right, I need you to listen carefully," said Epimetheus, his tone had suddenly become much more serious and his voice was much quieter. "I have here a box."

He pulled a small box about the size of the top of a tablespoon out of his pocket and set it on the table. It glittered a silvery green with a silver clasp at the edge to keep it closed tight. Small specks of darker shades appeared here and there in the design. There was something sinister about it.

"I need you to keep this box safe. It contains a very dangerous disease that could bring this world to its knees. Do you understand?"

I nodded. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lisa's hand move as if to take the box, but then she pulled it back. She looked away ashamed.

A thought occurred to me.

"Why don't you keep it yourself?" I was puzzled, surely this guy was more powerful than me.

"There are people after me," he said. "Bad people who would stop at nothing to take this from me. They've already taken Pandora's jar. I can't risk them getting hold of this thing as well."

"Who?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," he said. "But you must take this and keep it safe. Do whatever it takes."

"Erm...okay," I found myself agreeing despite my better judgement.

I gingerly took the box of the table and slotted it into my jean pocket. It fitted in with plenty of room to spare. I doubted it would fall out. I was a little worried though: this quest just seemed to get more and more dangerous.

"Now go," he said urgently, when nobody moved he repeated it louder. "GO!"

I got up first followed by Lisa and Merseus. We shuffled back through the kitchen area. Epimetheus waved us a brief goodbye.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Lisa called as we exited the train carriage.

We were back in the baggage carriage again, but we moved swiftly through it and back into the train.

"I hope our rucksacks are okay," said Lisa.

She was now at the front of our line moving as fast as she could through the aisles. Even I was beginning to get worried about what had happened to our bags.

I needn't have, they were still lying on the seats where we had been sitting. I breathed a massive sigh of relief. Slumping down in my seat I began to feel seriously tired. It had been a much more eventful day than I had expected. People just seemed to keep popping up.

I just wanted some down time at the moment. I closed my eyes and drifted of into a deep slumber.

My sleep was full of dreams of Gods and heroes, but in the end my mind settled on one in particular.

_A beautiful woman, who looked like the younger Pandora, stood in yellow Grecian robes in a white-painted house. Her brown hair was tied back in a typical bun and in her hands she was carrying a box. It was made of wicker like a basket and small signs had been painted on the sides in all the colours of the earth._

_Pandora's restless eyes darted around the house searching for life, but there was none. She carried the box to a low table in the living room and set it down. Then carefully, she undid the small latch that held it down and opened the lid._

_Suddenly a scream broke from the box and a black mist pushed its way out like a physical force. Going straight towards Pandora it got inside her mind and under her skin making her thrash and curse. She fell of the chair, the pain was immense. _

Even _I_ could feel it in my head, pressing down against my brain. The whispering voices were strong and forceful trying to find patterns into my brain, trying to control me.

I screamed.

I was awake, the sensation of pain was gone, but there was a slight memory in my head. Sweat was plastered over my face and body and my heart was racing.

My vision took a moment to clear, but when it did I saw Merseus watching me. Lisa was still asleep, but Merseus' keen eyes felt like they were burning through my skull.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

It was the first thing he'd said in a long time, I wondered why.

"Yeah," I said a little breathless. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

Merseus had a knowing expression on his face.

"The children of Morpheus have terrible dreams," he said. "I hear they are very vivid."

"They're vivid alright," I replied sitting up straight and wiping perspiration from my forehead.

"Jake," said Merseus. "What are you lying about?" I was taken aback by his directness. "What are you hiding from us? We're your friends, you know you can trust us."

I nodded, he sounded a little hurt. Merseus was my friend, even with his goat legs I trusted him. I don't know why I hadn't told him anyway.

"Well, I was planning on visiting my parents," I said sheepishly. "This train goes to Phoenix doesn't it?"

There was something else, but I didn't want to tell him just yet.

"I thought as much," said Merseus. "Your face kind of gave you away when you were looking at the ticket."

"You're not annoyed at me?" I asked surprised.

"You can't be expected top do exactly what the Gods tell you all the time," he shrugged.

There was a long pause. Although I felt relieved I felt slightly awkward, there was clearly something else Merseus wanted to say. I didn't interrupt the silence; I didn't want to stop him saying it.

"Jake?" he began again with a small question in his tone. "I want to tell you about my past. Do you think it's wrong to hate people?"

I didn't know what to say to that, but I kept silent and ready to listen to Merseus story. He was my friend and he clearly needed me then. He sounded like he was about to reveal the reason he had been proclaimed bitter.

**Review guys! It is really uplifting.**


	13. Merseus tells me his story

**Sorry this is rather late, I was on holiday, but I've written this now and I'll try and get another out faster than before. Thanks to my reviewers, by the way! **

**ThePrettyPotato: I apologise if Jake's fault doesn't really seem to suit him and Merseus is pronounced Mer-see-us.**

**Xylia Ren: Thank you for the encouragement.**

**Cotix 14: This review really got to me, right here *points to heart*. Thank you!**

**Merseus tells me his story**

"It was a long time ago," he began. "When I was just a little baby goat. We lived in a beautiful national park. Every morning the bids would sing to us and papa-goat would accompany them on the reed pipes. Their songs blended like a rainbow. I remember waking everyday to such a beautiful melody."

"Mama-goat was so kind, she took me to see the animals and pointed out the plants until I could name every flora and fauna in the park from the tips of the grassy slopes to the lowest valleys laden over with life."

"One day we were walking in the woods together as a family when we came across a group of humans. The lady started screaming, letting out a loud cry and pointing at us. The little boys picked up stones and threw them at my parents. One large one smacked my father in the head and he wavered."

"Mother grabbed father and we scurried away. She was so afraid she insisted we move, that we leave the park. I asked her why the children had thrown stones at us and she said it was because they were afraid, but now she was the one who sounded frightened."

"We moved halfway across the country in search of a new home. We found it in a forest with gently sloping grass and pines. Mum said we would return to normal, but she didn't."

Merseus' eyes were watering, I tried to pretend I hadn't noticed and let him go on with his story. He took a breath and continued.

"She would go out every morning and sit by the brook, she didn't really speak to me or dad any more. Whenever she spoke she would sound distant and whenever she heard a noise she would shepherd us into our shelter and we would wait there for hours."

"She wouldn't say anything and if ever of us tried to talk she would shush them sharply. We didn't dare make a sound holed up for hours on end in the shelter. It was warm and stuffy and the silence felt like distance. Distance between mum and us."

"When she deemed the case to be clear, she would go out and sit by the stream again. But it got worse."

Merseus' voice cracked, in my mind I could picture the frightened little satyr as he crouched in the darkness, the smell of mud and nature all around him. I could see the vacant, yet frightened look on his mother's face.

"She killed the birds," my friend's voice was now no more than a whisper. "She killed any living thing that disturbed her calm. Aside us. When the creature was big she would push us into the shelter and watch it. I heard the cries of the animals as they died in her grasp. The squawking screams of the birds, like the screams of that human woman."

The bitterness in Merseus' voice was overflowing, reducing the sadness and magnifying the sorrow.

"Of course it didn't end there," he said angrily, but the volume subsided. "One day, she found a knife by the river. Dad went up to bring her to supper and..."

My friend collapsed into sobs in front of me that told me how the story ended. I went over to him, there was nothing much I could say to comfort him, but I threw my arm around him and hugged him like a true friend. I wanted to comfort him, the truth sounded so terrible.

"I found his body when mother had fled," he sobbed. "It was covered in blood, an ugly dagger..." he gasped. "Protruding from..." he was sobbing uncontrollably now. "His heart."

Merseus body slumped against me, his shoulders shivering with tears. The horrific scene embedded itself in my mind. I saw the blood leaking like a pipe, spreading across the goat's chest like a splotch of red ink and seeping into the ground around him.

I'd never have guessed his past, he had always seemed so usual, so casual. How could I have been so blind? I was a terrible friend, I felt so useless. Already I had upset Lisa and now my best friend was shaking in my arms.

"It's their fault!" Merseus bleated. "The humans, it's their fault! I hate them," he was angry again. "I hate them all!" he almost shouted.

I saw Lisa stir in her sleep. I willed her to stay asleep, I wasn't sure how Merseus would react to her sudden waking. Thankfully she seemed to stay unconscious. For once I was grateful that I was Morpheus' son.

I let Merseus sit there in silence, crying his woes and sorrow and I felt like crying with him. My imagination had conjured vivid scenes in my mind, I could almost feel the fear of the tiny Merseus, the sorrow.

"I'm sorry," I muttered at length.

"It's not your fault," he mumbled from my shoulder. "It's theirs."

I didn't want to breach the subject. Merseus was sore again. His bitterness was keeping him from complete despair, the knowledge that it was the humans.

"Humans always fear what they don't understand," I said quietly, but Merseus had fallen asleep.

My heart felt heavy as I lay his body back against the chair to let him rest. His eyelids were shut tight and red-tinged with crying. I sighed, here I was intending to go and see my parents when Merseus didn't even have a dad anymore. He didn't even really have a mum.

Whatever she had been before, she clearly wasn't now. She seemed to me to be worse than Pandora, the woman sounded like she was a shell. A shell of her former self.

I tried to banish the thoughts of the murder from my mind, but they seeped through my closed eyelids like tendrils to wrap around my brain. I felt sick. I had a feeling the children of Morpheus all suffered from this vivid imagination.

I didn't want it anymore, I didn't want this stupid business with the Gods, but I didn't want to go back to the human world either. After Merseus' story I felt shocked to the core. Humans were cruel, _**I**_was cruel, but I didn't want to be like that. In my head I vowed I would never hurt an innocent creature so long as I lived.


	14. A trip to the food stand

**Sorry for the lateness. I have one exam left so I should get back to more regular updates, but here's the next chapter.**

**Thanks for the reviews. I felt sad writing the chapter about Merseus, enjoy this though. It's definitely more upbeat.**

**A trip to the food stand**

"Jake get up," it was Lisa.

She was shaking my arm hard. I could feel my whole body moving with it. I didn't want to get up so I tried to bat her away.

"Ow!" she exclaimed though it was muffled, I think I hit her mouth.

"Sorry," I mumbled, but didn't get up.

"Jake we have a problem," she said flatly.

"What?" I nearly sprang out of my seat like a jack in the box.

My eyes darted around the carriage looking for danger, but there didn't appear to be any. Merseus was already awake and Lisa was standing over me. She laughed.

"What?" I asked surprised.

"Look," she held up her rucksack.

I peered at it. It looked normal, except the bottom seemed darker than the top and little droplets seemed to be forming in the lowest corner.

"Your bag's wet," I remarked showing my superior intelligence.

"So is my food," she moaned. "We have to get more."

"How?" I asked.

"There's a station coming up in a few minutes, we can get off there and refuel," she looked forlornly at the bag. "I think I will have to throw this away. I managed to save all the clothes and my bow and arrows are fine, it's just the food. It's all sodden. Want to see?"

She held out the bag.

"No thanks," I declined. "I'll take your word for it."

"Stupid water bottle," she sounded annoyed. " I didn't put it in upside down."

"Hey guys I think that's it," announced Merseus pointing out the window just before a speaker announced it.

Merseus looked slightly better now, the sleep had clearly helped him, but there seemed to be something raw about his face. Or maybe it always looked like that, maybe I was just looking at him in a different way.

I turned away before he looked round at me, I didn't want to give away my thoughts.

"We'll get off then," I decided.

Lisa smiled at me and pushed her wavy hair out of her eyes. It looked a bit wild at the moment, but she looked happy enough.

If I'm honest, I couldn't wait to get off the train. It was getting warm and stuffy and I felt a little trapped. We had been on it for hours. Before the thing had even come to a stop we all gathered up our stuff and stood eagerly awaiting the train's stop. It was fast enough.

The matt doors slid to the sides and the platform in front of us seemed to appear as if by magic. I made the small step across from the train. Lisa seemed to have trouble with it though. It couldn't have been more than 20 centimetres across, but she had that concentrated look on her face again. At last she joined us on the concrete.

"So where are we going?" she asked.

I looked around at the shops inside the station. We wouldn't have time to go out into the town to get something or we'd miss the train so we'd have to make do with the things here. I searched the names, but there was one shop that drew my attention, well actually it was more of a stand.

The smell of freshly cooked beef and French fries wafted over to us. I inhaled, I hadn't had a hot meal since the day before camp, I had skipped my first dinner there because I was so tired. Now, my stomach just couldn't resist the idea of a hot meal.

"Do you guys want to go over there?" I pointed to the stand.

It was pale blue with white stripes and the sign above it said _Twin-time_ when I focused on it. Rightly so as the two people serving looked almost identical. They had the same blonde hair and the same green eyes.

When we got over to them they had just finished serving a customer. I pulled out a series of notes ready to pay. We had no time to lose, it was lucky there was no queue.

"One hamburger, one veggie burger and a hot dog," I said after consulting Lisa and Merseus.

They looked expectantly at the man.

"Pollux at your service," grinned the twin taking orders. "Hey Castor, I need one hamburger, one veggie burger and one hot dog."

"Got it," the cooking twin said, his back was to them and he was concentrating on the food.

Something in my mind had clicked, I don't know what it was, but Lisa tugged my t-shirt.

"Jake," she whispered. "You don't think that could be _the_ Castor and Pollux," I frowned clearly not understanding. "You know, from the myth, one of them was immortal, the other wasn't."

I looked up at the men behind the counter, now that I looked carefully, one of them did look slightly older, but only slightly as if they had been aging, but it had stopped.

"Maybe," I mumbled.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," said Lisa. "If they are who I think they are then they might be trouble."

"It was your idea to get food," I reminded her, but I didn't want to leave now before we got our food even if Lisa's warning worried me a bit.

I was just so hungry.

"Jake," said Merseus. "We'd better be careful. I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"Relax," I said.

They were just two twins running a food stand. How evil could they be? Plus nobody else they'd served seemed to be having any problem with the food.

"Here you go," Pollux slapped the three things onto the counter taking me by surprise.

I nearly jumped, boy was I getting paranoid. Lisa and Merseus were just a little worried that's all, but Epimetheus had been fine, so why should Castor and Pollux be evil.

"Er...thanks," I said handing over a twenty dollar note. "Keep the change."

The man smiled at me.

"You'd better hurry up," he said. "The train leaves in two minutes."

With my food still clutched in my hand I urged my friends to hurry, we could not miss the train. We sprinted across the tiled floor and out onto the concrete. I heard the decompression sound of the doors beginning to slide shut and slipped through the nearest one. Merseus was hard on my heals, but Lisa was taking a long time stepping over the gap.

"Come on," I said sharply, but she didn't speed up.

The door was half closed now, she wouldn't make it on. With a muttered apology I grabbed her arm and yanked her onto the train. For a moment I thought I might pull it out of its socket, but it stayed strong and Lisa was pulled onto the train behind it. She bashed into me and we went sprawling to the floor. Somehow the food stayed in its container.

Lisa was heavier than she looked, she knocked the breath out of me and it took a moment for both of us to recover. Her hair flew into my face and mouth. I spat it out and moved it aside with my free hand. The other was squashed under Lisa's stomach.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly and scrambled backwards so she could stand up.

Merseus offered me a hand and I took it.

We made our way back to where we had been sitting before, no one had taken our seats. I slumped down, that had been a more eventful trip than I'd planned. I felt exhausted. Just the right time for a bite to eat.

I popped open the burger packaging and started to eat.


	15. I forget my name

**I am so sorry this took so long. I've got so much to do lately, but enjoy anyway.**

**Cotix 14: you were totally right about the burger.**

**I forget my name**

I won't go into how good the burger was...who am I kidding? It was the zenith of burgers, a true masterpiece. I bit into it expecting the normal fast food stand stuff, but boy was I surprised. The meat nearly melted in my mouth, the sauces combining around a wonderful, crisp layer of salad and a beautiful tangy taste of gherkins to top it off.

I took another bite, I couldn't help myself. I was stuffing the last bit into my mouth when I noticed that the train carriage seemed to be blurring. Lisa and Merseus were drifting in and out of focus. My head felt like it was swirling. The whole train seemed to be spinning. I felt like I might puke up any moment.

What was happening. I looked down at the burger in my hands, the _Twintime_ logo stamped on the packaging. How could I have been so stupid? I tried to concentrate on what I knew about the story of Castor and Pollux. Hadn't they been turned into...?

"The flars," I managed to utter (though I had meant to say 'stars') before I passed out. Morpheus had warned me.

I briefly remember sliding to the floor of the train carriage, but after that it was all blank.

I was standing, no floating in some kind of dull place. White stretched everywhere as far as I could see. I tried to remember who I was, what I was doing. Nothing came to me.

Then a figure seemed to appear out of nowhere, his long cloak twisting behind him. All sorts of colours ran around the fabric indistinctly. I had a feeling I had seen this white-haired man before, but I couldn't think where.

"Hello Jake," his voice was dreamy.

I looked around trying to see who he was talking to. There was nobody there, but me. Then it struck me, I was Jake. That was my name, but who was I? I couldn't remember anything. The doors of my mind were locked.

"Hi," I said uncertainly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Morpheus," he replied.

Morpheus...Morpheus? The name rang a bell.

"Jake, you're unconscious," he said bluntly.

"I am?"

"Yes, I'm here because the subconscious is my domain. You need to get up otherwise they'll capture you," he said urgently.

"How do I get up?" I asked.

""I can't tell you," said the man, he looked at me apologetically with his endless eyes. "But you are my son. You can figure this out. The subconscious is _our_ domain. I know you can do this."

He faded like smoke as suddenly as he had appeared. I looked around the whiteness and thought carefully. I was Jake, Morpheus was my dad. I knew that. What else did I know? Who was my mum? Things started to come back.

Morpheus was the God of dreams, I was on some kind of quest, from camp half-blood. I had to find Hestia. Yes that was it! And I had two friends with me. Merseus and Lisa.

With every new piece of information the landscape around me began to fill itself in. The colours were coming back. The shapes were solidifying, becoming real. Noise filtered into my ears. A steady droning like train wheels.

That was it! I opened my eyes. I was on a train to Phoenix. The carriage came back into full d=focus and I looked around. I was lying on the floor. I remembered I had fallen onto it. My back felt a little stiff, but I pushed myself up.

Lisa had fallen across the seats and Merseus was slumped in an awkward position, half on the floor, half on the seat. I went to put him into a more comfortable position. He wasn't too heavy so I was able to put him back into his seat.

My foot touched something. Disgusted, I kicked the burger packaging away from me and peered out the window. We were coming into another station. How long had I been out? Morpheus had said something about being captured.

I scanned the platform for anything suspicious, but then I remembered that whatever was coming for us would probably look as normal as you or me. I moved towards my rucksack and pulled the sword out of my bag. Its bronze shimmered a little, but that was no comfort. I had a bad feeling about this.

"Hi," said a girl's voice from behind me. I spun round faster than a spinning top. "Can I sit here?" she asked politely, gesturing to a seat next to Lisa's feet.

"Er sure," I said.

My mind was screaming something at me. There was something about this blonde-headed girl that just wasn't right. Her faded green t-shirt had the name of some rock band in drip-blood font, but that wasn't it. Why did her face seem to shift between two different ones?

Another girl appeared in my line of sight. She was wearing the same t-shirt and was followed by another girl. I lifted my sword up, but they smiled at me. This time though there seemed to be malice in their eyes.

"Jake," said the one sitting down. "We're not going to hurt you," her expression said otherwise. "We just want something you have on you."

"What?" I asked trying to buy, I could tell I was in big trouble. I was hoping against Hades that Merseus and Lisa would wake up, but they slumbered on.

"We need the little green box," she said pleasantly.

I had to force myself not to make any sign of recognition. My face clouded with fake confusion.

"What box?" I asked innocently.

"The one Epimetheus gave you," she said impatiently. "Give it to us and you won't be harmed."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"Give it to us or we'll take it," she warned, the other two girls had drawn level with her now.

I was outnumbered.

"I don't have it," I lied once more and they lunged for me.

Then I saw them for who they really were. Their disguises seemed to fall away and I found myself staring at vampiric creatures: empousai.


	16. My friends sleep fight empousai

**So congratulations in the last chapter if you remembered Morpheus' warning and realised that Castor and Pollux were turned into a constellation (Gemini) in the Greek myth :)**

**My friends sleep-fight empousai**

It was like my dreams all over again.

How did I know who these creatures were? They had been a recurring nightmare for weeks when I was nine.

_It had always been the same dream, I was running down the corridor at school, this visiting squad of cheerleaders was following me, but when I looked closely they weren't cheerleaders. They were these horrible women that sort of resembled vampires._

_I broke into a run, but they stayed hot on my heels. Heads turned to look at me. I shouted help, I pointed to the vampires who seemed to look again like smiling cheerleaders. Everyone looked at me as though I was mad, but I kept running and then they were upon me._

"_Who are you?" I shouted stumbling out of the doors into the playground._

_Their claws dug into my shoulders holding me fast. I tried to struggle, but any movement was painful. I had been caught._

"_We are empousai," they smiled and lifted their claws._

I would always wake up at that point, sweating like a pig. The images were so vivid. Mum had said they weren't real and of course I'd believed her, but now I knew she was wrong. They were definitely real and they looked like they wanted to kill me.

I grabbed my bag and nearly ripped it open. My sword was wrapped in the cloth. The empousai hissed, but I didn't stop. I pulled the cloth off and the bronze began to glint slightly.

A hand shot out of nowhere and gripped me from behind. It slung me hard into an empty seat. My back slammed into the padding. For a moment I was completely winded and my sword slid out of my hand to the floor.

"No," I said feebly and slid to the floor.

My hands fumbled for the sword, but they were seized by one of the empousai.

"If you don't give me the box I'll take it from you," said the one who had spoken before, she was standing over me.

With a flick of her wrist she signalled to the empousai holding me. That one dragged me to my feet pulling my arms out further behind me. I winced, but bit my lip. I wasn't going to cry out. I needed to keep calm so I could think what to do. If only Lisa and Merseus were awake, they would be able to help me.

But they were still under, drugged by the food we'd got from Castor and Pollux. A thought occurred to me. If...

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in pain. The leader of the empousai had punched me in the stomach. It felt like someone had sent a cannonball into my midrift. I doubled over, every thought gone from my head, but the pain.

I shook my head to think straight again. If I could bring myself out of the subconscious, maybe I could bring Lisa and Merseus back too. I focused on the child of Apollo first. I could see her closed eyelids. I tried to reach out to her with my mind concentrating on one word: '_wake_'. I repeated it over and over in my head.

She began to stir. I nearly jumped out of my shoes when she did, but I steadied myself and tried to make it look as though I was completely hopeless. I didn't want to draw attention to Lisa. The first empousai patted my head as if the box might be hidden in my hair.

I tried to ignore her and focused on getting Lisa to pick up the sword. She slipped clumsily off the seat almost as though she wasn't in control of herself and hit the floor with a thud.

All three empousai turned in her direction distracted. I saw this as the only opportunity I would have and suddenly I sort of knew what to do. I slipped one arm up out of the grip of the girl holding me and swung round elbowing her in the ribs, or somewhere around there.

She let go for a second just long enough for me to twist away, but it wasn't long enough to do anything. All three turned to me in the same instant, the still unconscious Lisa was forgotten. They lunged for me, all from different sides, I dived for my sword.

My hand s clasped around the hilt and I turned over onto my back swinging the sword up and plunging it into the back of the leader. She let out a blood-curdling scream then exploded into dust before my eyes. It fell onto me, coating my clothes with its fine particles.

The other two seemed a little lost when they realised the leader was gone, but then they came for me, both of them. I tried to parry their claws, but they came at me with such ferocity that I was overwhelmed. The sword flew out of my hand again and skidded on the floor. It came to a halt, the hilt just inches from Merseus' inanimate hand.

'_Pick up_' I nearly screamed at him in my mind. Over and over. One empousai slashed my face. I cried out, there was blood seeping down from a thin wound just below my hairline. I put a hand up to stem it and protect my head only for the second empousai to slice throught my jacket and skin like they were made of paper.

I called out in agony and stepped back into the wall of the carriage.. There was nowhere to go and the empousai were advancing. It was like my dream. One last time I tried calling out to Merseus and Lisa for help.

The empousai on the right raised her hand and screeched.

"We will have the box," then she brought her hand crashing down towards my head.

I put both arms up to protect myself, but the blow never came. Still, I kept my eyes closed another ten second at least. Only then did I relax my body a bit and dare to peak out through my fingers. Merseus was standing there sporting the sword and Lisa was standing up too, holding a knife she had procured.

"Thanks guys," I said relieved.

They didn't respond, they didn't even nod. I frowned, puzzled and stared at them. There was something wrong with them. Their eyes were still shut and their bodies were stood in an awkward puppet like stance, like someone else was pulling the strings.

"Oh," I gasped realising that I was the puppeteer.

**Alright, so what do you think of Jake's new power? Review!**


	17. I lose confidence on the quest

**Yes it's been forever. I'm sorry I haven't written for such a long time. I had a lot of stuff to do. I hope this makes up for it. **

**I lose confidence in the quest**

I let Merseus and Lisa free of my commands. They fell heavily to the floor, weapons skidding off under the seats. Lisa hit her head in an awkward way, but it jolted her awake.

"Ow," she mumbled opening her eyes with a start. "What's going on?"

Merseus seemed to be stirring on the floor as well. I helped them up one at a time and they stood there groggily like they'd climbed out of a mud pit.

"How did we get on the floor?" asked Lisa even though I hadn't answered her earlier question.

"We were drugged by that food and then we were attacked," I said grimly. "By empousai."

"That's bad," said Merseus finding his voice, he sounded confused. "I don't remember anything. Except this weird dream. You were calling to me and there was this sword, but I couldn't see anything."

"I had that dream too!" exclaimed Lisa. "Except in my one I had a knife," she turned to me. "What's going on?"

"I don't know how to tell you this," I said rubbing my forehead. "But I think I can get sleeping people to do what I want," I said.

It sounded like voo-doo witchy talk and as I said it aloud, the more surreal it sounded. Then again I had been attacked by empousai and ridden a nightmare, surely this was possible too. My friends frowned at me for a second, but then Lisa eyebrows went up in surprise as she realised what I'd just said.

"The dream?" she asked.

"I got you guys to fight the empousai while you were sleeping. I had no idea I could do that, I didn't mean to use you like that. I won't ever do it again," I apologised.

"It's alright," said Merseus.

"Yeah," agreed Lisa, but she looked unhappy for some reason.

We all sat down. The train swayed gently and the train wheels continued their constant beat along the track. It was going to be a long journey. We'd been on the train for nearly a whole day.

"What did the empousai want?" asked Merseus curious.

"You remember the box Epimetheus gave us?" I asked. "I think they were after that."

"But why?" asked Lisa, but none of us could answer.

I sat there pondering the question. Epimetheus had said there was something in the box that could destroy the world. It was probably some nut-job with a world domination plan. He had warned there were people after it. Feeling no more at ease, I tried to focus on the fields outside the window.

Rain began to pour down, at first it drizzled, but then it fell like heavy tears. It made me think about everything that had happened. The world seemed a much sadder, more dangerous place. Water pelted the window pane in streaks obscuring the view. Soon I could only make out colours and murky shapes. It was like this quest, there were no certainties.

"How are we going to find Hestia?" I asked at last.

The problem had been bugging me for a while. We were heading west indefinitely with no idea where the goddess was or who had taken her. Time was ticking away and we still had no plan. We had to sort this out.

"I don't know," said Lisa. "The oracle said go west, so we're going west. That's all we've got."

"But how do we know when we've gone far enough west?" I asked.

"I have a theory," said Merseus.

Surprised, I turned to face him. His tufty blonde hair stuck up as usual and he had a thoughtful look on his face like he too had been pondering the problem.

"What kind of a theory?" I asked.

"Hestia is the goddess of fire," he said. "She may have been captured and her captor may have diminished her powers, but she was one of the original Olympians. She's still going to be pretty powerful, even if she's been locked up."

"So what?" I asked. "Should we look for big fires or something."

"No," said Merseus. "We have to think like her captor. You've got a goddess who radiates heat like a furnace. Where would you put her so that nobody would notice?"

I nodded catching on, Lisa's face changed as the realisation hit her.

"She's in the desert," she said. "Or, at least, she might be. Merseus you're brilliant."

"Thank you," he said.

"We'd better start looking as soon as we get there," I said looking out the window again at the dreary landscape.

It was going to be a long time before we got to the desert. I had realised something else too and if my geography lessons were any good then that meant we would never reach Phoenix. I wasn't going to see my parents.

My mood blended seamlessly with the rain. I felt defeated and alone. Even though Merseus and Lisa were sitting with me, it didn't make up for the lack of my parents. I really wanted to see them, but any relatively clever kid who has been forced to memorise the American States knows that the desert begins before Arizona.

"How are we meant to search the entire desert?" I asked Merseus. "That's impossible. We've only got four days left."

"You're thinking of giving up aren't you?" said Lisa watching my face carefully.

I didn't even bother denying it. My heart had never really been in it. I hated fire and I was going to find its goddess, I hated Zeus and I was running his quest and I wanted to see my parents, but I couldn't. What was the point of it anymore?"

"Jake, if we don't do this then Olympus will fall," said Lisa.

"So let it fall," I said dejectedly.

"If Olympus falls civilisation falls," said Lisa in the same doomsday tone. "We'll die without fire. You'll die, I'll die, we'll all die," she said. "Everyone you ever cared about will die. Is that what you want."

"No," I said quietly. "You're right. I guess we'll just have to roll with it. That's what we've been doing so far and it's working out alright."

I shrugged feeling more like I wanted to be on this quest. I still wasn't feeling too enthusiastic, but Lisa had a point. We were the only people who could do this. We had no choice or the world wouls end. I smiled weakly.

"That's more like it," said Merseus patting me on the back smiling as well, my smile grew larger. "Who's up for a game of cards?" he asked.

The train juddered to a stop at the next platform. Some people got on, some got off, but I didn't notice, I was engrossed in a game of _Crazy Eights._ Life felt better again, but it wasn't to last.

**I apologise for the doom and gloom, but you know how it is when you're trying to save the world. I hoped you liked the chapter. More action coming up soon :)**


	18. Return of the stars

**Thanks for being such a great reviewer Cotix 14, even if the last chapter took forever to update :) This chapter's for you and have yourself a virtual cookie while you're at it.**

**Return of the Stars**

Pretty soon we had to re-fuel again, questing is tough work. Particularly if you're growing children. People are always saying teenagers need loads of food. Of course, that meant another trip off the train and into the station we had just pulled up to.

As we stepped onto the stone platform, I couldn't help feeling a little nervous. Last time we'd picked up food we'd been drugged. There was no reason to suspect any of that would happen here though. We stepped inside the station building and scanned the stalls.

My eyes grew wide with when I spotted blue and white stripes and the familiar logo: _'Twintime'._ I felt a terrible sick feeling in my stomach, like my insides were churning.

"What are they doing here?" I asked aloud, worried now.

How had they got here faster than us? It was impossib- I stopped myself. Apparently nothing was impossible anymore. That didn't comfort me much.

"I don't think they are here," said Lisa.

"What?" I asked.

"The stall is empty," she pointed out.

She was right, the white metal was pulled down on the front of the stall and there was nobody nearby. Still, I couldn't help feeling nervous. Were they following us? My eyes darted around the train station trying to spot them. I couldn't see them, but that didn't mean anything.

"Do we get food?" asked Merseus. "Or should we get back on the train?"

My stomach rumbled, but my head said run.

"Back on the train," I decided turning on my heels.

Not looking where I was going, I hurried back towards the train, Lisa and Merseus kept pace. We were walking so fast we were practically running, darting through throngs of people and swerving around obstacles. Then suddenly two people stepped out right in front of our path. I bashed into the first one and felt a sharp pain in my arm.

I stepped back, my head feeling dizzy. Did the person I had just bashed into have a syringe in their hands? The world began to spin and distort itself. I put my hand up to my forehead, my fingers felt numb. I couldn't feel my arms. I tried to concentrate on the two people in front of me. They looked very similar. I frowned trying to remember who they were and trying to keep my wits about me, but my mind seemed to have other ideas. It made everything waver and swirl in font of me.

"Oh no," I realised who they were, I recognised the blonde hair: it was Castor and Pollux. "Run!" I managed to call out to Lisa and Merseus, but they were crumpled on the floor on either side of me.

Their eyes were open and unseeing. I tried to look at their faces, but the features swam in and out of focus. They were completely out of it, they couldn't get away. I tried to step towards Lisa, but I stumbled and tripped over my ungainly feet. I shot out my hands as I fell. The world seemed to move in slow motion, I didn't even feel the pain as I hit the floor. A part of my brain wondered why nobody in the station had noticed. Then it was just me, in whiteness.

It was easier to fight my way out this time. I kept my eyes open and soon the floor of the train station came back into view. I couldn't see much, but two pairs of feet were lifting Merseus up, then Lisa.

I stayed down and waited for them to come for me. They did. Or at least one of them did. He gripped my shoulders, I stopped my muscles from tensing and tried to be limp like a fish. Then he hauled me to my feet. I didn't stand. I dangled like a puppet in his arms.

I was half carried out of the station, but not back towards the train. Instead I was being dragged out into the town. Then I was slung in the back of a black van and strapped to the benches next to Merseus. Both my friends were already there. I saw everything, but pretended not to. The doors closed and the engine started. As soon as I was sure we were on the road I undid my seat belt and got to my feet.

Fishing in my bag I found my sword and sat in front of the black doors, waiting for the twins to open them. I seemed to sit there for hours wondering if Lisa and Merseus would wake up soon. If they did we could try and escape.

A thought occurred to me. Maybe I could try to wake them myself.

Replacing my sword carefully in my bag, I went over to Lisa first and knelt down in front of her. I held her temples in my palms like I was some kind of telepath from X-men. Her eyes stared down at me, glassy and unnerving. She was somewhere else, miles away from the van and all our problems. For a moment I wished I could be miles away too, but I brought myself back to the present.

The engine droned and the van vibrated slightly, but I was focusing on Lisa. Closing my eyes, I concentrated hard.

"Wake!" I thought.

Nothing happened.

"Wake," I thought again.

Still nothing.

Suddenly the van turned a corner, jolting me painfully. I let go of Lisa's head so I wouldn't rip it off as I slid into the side of the van with a thud. I had tumbled onto my side and my shoulder had hit the wall, quickly followed by my back. A sharp pain ran up my spine.

It hurt, but I was more worried about the noise. Had Castor and Pollux heard? They showed no sign. The van didn't stop and nobody opened the doors to check on us.

I breathed a little more easily then clambered to my knees and crawled back over to Lisa. As I straightened up, my back began to throb again. My body had been so beaten up and bruised on this quest, that another injury barely phased me. I lifted my arms up again and took Lisa's head between my hands.

"WAKE!" I heard my mind shout, but the only sound in the van was that of wheels on tarmac.

Lisa stirred. Her eyes shifted from the distance to my face.

"What's going on," she asked haltingly, trying to take in the surroundings.

"We've been kidnapped," I told her. "By Castor and Pollux."

**I bet you didn't see Castor and Pollux coming back did you?**

**Review!**


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